As Hughes mowed down the A's last night in dominating fashion, made a run at a no-hitter and set a career high in strikeouts, Matt and I chatted on GMail and both kept and eye out for a blue hat with a red "C" and a sailboat on it. As the camera pulled away from a shot of Phil Hughes' parents and former Yankee, Angel, Giant & Red Sock J.T. Snow in the top of the 4th, Matt thought he might have caught a glimpse of a Clippers hat behind the visitor's dugout. But upon further review, it was not.

However, after the game concluded, Ken Singleton kicked it down to Kim Jones so she could interview Hughes' parents, and look who was standing right behind Phil's mom, Dori:

The MLB.tv broadcast cut out about three seconds after they switched to his camera angle so this is the best screengrab I could get, but on the live telecast the interview lasted for a couple of minutes and Mode was just kickin' it in the background, prompting this praise from Ben Kabak of River Ave. Blues:

A+, indeed and $175 well spent, sir.

Mode lives about an hour away from the Coliseum and last night is about as good as it gets for an displaced fan of any club: your favorite team stops by, a young pitcher has a an awesome start, your guys hit back-to-back triples and win a close contest in exciting fashion.

If you live within a reasonable commute of Yankee Stadium chances are that you take for granted the option to go to as many games as you can fit into your schedule and afford - I know I did when I lived on the Upper West Side and still do to some extent now that I'm Upstate. But if you live out of town - even if you're lucky enough to live in a city that the Yanks visit - you are at the whim of their schedule and have to hope it works out in one of the few times you have a chance to go. In true California fashion, Mode caught this wave right when it was cresting and rode it for all it was worth. I'm sure he'll have more in the comments at some point.

7 comments:

I can attest to the frustrations of capricious schedules for out-of-town fans, for I did not get tickets to the Yankees in Chicago in late August because I wasn't sure if I'd still be living in the Midwest. Other times, the Yanks have appeared in Chicago mid-week, making attending more than a game impossible, or even one difficult, with work and school for me and the family. That we went to two last year, and got to see Melky hit for the cycle--and have a Yankees fan one section over from us call the cycle during Melky's at-bat--was a real privilege, as I'm sure Mode feels about going last night.

Wow, my own post. Actually, that guy isn't me, another guy had the same hat, weird, no?

Alright, that was me. When I got the tickets off stub hub, they were for sec 112, row 1. Little did I know, they were adjacent to the dugout instead of behind it. Best seats in the house.

Great, great, game. Funny about the BenK tweet, I actually thought about RAB at one point due to their well recorded Phil love.

My favorite moment of the game was when Adam Rosales squared to bunt in the 6th. When Phil got 2 stikes on him, he put one right under his chin, and then proceeded to punch him out.

A couple other observations.

Before the game, Joba snuck up behind Kim Jones and tried to scare her by yelling in her ear. She waved him off with a sighing "Joba".

David Robertson walked between the dugout and the bullpen at least 8 times during the game. Not sure if he was relaying messages or just needed to walk around to keep warm.

Chan Ho Prak walked by once, and all I could think of was, "How's the diarrhea going?" Luckily I kept that to myself.

Gardner sat on a cooler by himself most innings when the Yankees were batting.

The interview. Before the Hughes' got there I actually chatted a little with Miss Jones. And although I look like a freak trying to get on camera in that pic, I was actually just watching the Yankees file into and out of the dugout.

I keep score at any game I go to, and because of that I can safely say I am the only person in the world with a filled out scorecard of a Phil Hughes jem, signed by none other than his dad, Phil Sr. I'm just disappointed I didn't ask his mom to sign it too.

And although I was mostly joking the other day to look for me in the stands I thought I would check FY today and put in a comment that said "Didya see me?"

Good times, Mode. Matt and I were on GChat and as soon as you popped on he goes "Mode!". Pretty awesome moment. Neither of us were watching on a TV with a DVR or else we would have got a better picture from later on in the interview.

Did you also happen to catch during the replay of Phil's folks' reaction to the Chavez hit, right next to them an A's fan jumping up and down cheering turned to a little kid decked out in Yankees gear who positively DENIED his attempt at a high five. It was a beautiful display of fandom by the kid, and the look on his face when the guy tried to high five him was a priceless, "Are you serious with that right now?" We start 'em young...